MSE News: Green Deal launches to help insulate homes

tim123456789

atarisrocks wrote: »

who pays for it in rental properties when the tenant pays for bills?

will it be a case of the landlord getting a nice upgraded house and being able to charge more rent as they will claim it all newly refitted and energy saving and then the tenant having to pay more on top when the bills come in?

also will the landlord have to declare this to new tenants ?

Yes

No idea what the penalty is for not doing so

diywhynot

Ecodave wrote: »

Diywhynot - interesting, when someone posts further (informed) detail that doesn't go along with your ill informed thinking, you choose to cast aspersions as to their motives.

Ps - I have a vested interest.

Welcome to MSE : your assumptions about me are malformed. I have been following the development of Green Deal policy (since 2010), as well as FITs and RHI (since 2009). This thread is here to enable MSErs to discuss the Green Deal, warts and all.

I look forward to your input.

rogerblack

laurel7172 wrote: »

I've been waiting to find out about this before installing double glazing..

Double glazing is one of the most expensive ways to insulate your house possible.
In almost all circumstances, there are cheaper improvements, with a better return.

gornalboy

Thought you might be interested to hear my energy saving experience.

Following advice from various sources including yourselves we decided to increase energy efficiency within our home.

Last year we:

renewed our double glazing with the latest A rated well respected double glazing profile and argon filled glass units
renewed all old electrical appliances with A rated ones
installed a log burner thereby substantially reducing usage of the central heating
replaced two old radiators
mainly used our slow cooker to cut electric usage
insulated roof and walls under bay windows with Celotex insulation
our loft complies with latest insulation requirements
our central heating boiler settings remained unchanged on medium setting
we have trv fitted to every radiator
we have energy saving light bulbs throughout

Guess what………………………………

Our Jan gas bill shows we used 1 unit MORE than same period previous year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We used a lot less electric BUT……………. with price increases our electric bill was higher!!!!!!!!!!

(previous year we even left the central heating on overnight on a low setting during cold spells last year we didn’t)

I am at a loss to understand all of this as it seems to contradict a lot of the advice we have been given.

We are now several THOUSAND pounds out of pocket with nothing to show for it.

Where are we going wrong????

I am a disabled individual and cannot afford these bills.

WestonDave

Might be worth pointing out that the good conveyancing solicitors are already up to speed on this so anyone thinking they can bling their house up with improvements and leave their buyer with a loading on future electricity bills may well be disappointed!

To me this looks like being another example of the old boiler replacement scheme (was it WarmFront) that ended up with people waiting ages, getting shoddy workmanship and the big suppliers charging over the odds compared to a decent local tradesman. I suspect the overseas call centres are lining up their cold calling scripts as we speak.

Butterfly_Brain

Since I had cavity wall and loft insulation I have had trouble with mould in all rooms........... and before you ask we have a brand new boiler and airvents fitted.

penrhyn

gornalboy wrote: »

Thought you might be interested to hear my energy saving experience.

Following advice from various sources including yourselves we decided to increase energy efficiency within our home.

Last year we:

renewed our double glazing with the latest A rated well respected double glazing profile and argon filled glass units
renewed all old electrical appliances with A rated ones
installed a log burner thereby substantially reducing usage of the central heating
replaced two old radiators
mainly used our slow cooker to cut electric usage
insulated roof and walls under bay windows with Celotex insulation
our loft complies with latest insulation requirements
our central heating boiler settings remained unchanged on medium setting
we have trv fitted to every radiator
we have energy saving light bulbs throughout

Guess what………………………………

Our Jan gas bill shows we used 1 unit MORE than same period previous year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We used a lot less electric BUT……………. with price increases our electric bill was higher!!!!!!!!!!

(previous year we even left the central heating on overnight on a low setting during cold spells last year we didn’t)

I am at a loss to understand all of this as it seems to contradict a lot of the advice we have been given.

We are now several THOUSAND pounds out of pocket with nothing to show for it.

Where are we going wrong????

I am a disabled individual and cannot afford these bills.

Last year was not a particularly cold winter so that could be why you are not seeing savings, what temperature are you heating your home to?

Consumerist

gornalboy wrote: »

Our Jan gas bill shows we used 1 unit MORE than same period previous year! . . .

Just out of interest, was that based on two actual readings or were they estimated?

rogerblack

gornalboy wrote: »

renewed our double glazing with the latest A rated well respected double glazing profile and argon filled glass units

Likely to have little or no effect on bills. The amount of heat lost through windows is small in most properties, due to their small area. Replacing single glazed with double may pay back in some extreme cases - replacing double glazed almost never.

renewed all old electrical appliances with A rated ones

This only makes sense to do with the most energy using ones. Replacing a D rated appliance you use 10 times a year is a bad investment.

installed a log burner thereby substantially reducing usage of the central heating
If this actually results in you having the heating off more, and does not result in losses due to air going up the chimney.

replaced two old radiators
Generally will do nothing at all, perhaps negative if it means the house is warmer.

mainly used our slow cooker to cut electric usage
Cookers are not a large, though can be significant if your bill is very small.

insulated roof and walls under bay windows with Celotex insulation
our loft complies with latest insulation requirements
our central heating boiler settings remained unchanged on medium setting
we have trv fitted to every radiator
we have energy saving light bulbs throughout

Many of the changes you mention may reduce electricity use.
Unfortunately, in many cases, heating remains the largest use.
This is for a very simple reason.
Heat loss is proportional to area * heat loss.

Insulating relatively small areas to a slightly better level, or even lots better does not significantly reduce your gas bill.
The only thing that has a real effect is to insulate _large_ areas of the property - floor, whole ceiling, whole walls.
Topping up insulation where you can easily reach is not usually quite pointless - but if the rest of the property is not insulated - it may be hard to measure.
Or to turn the heating down.
With a properly setup system without TRVs, the rooms will be at a similar temperature.
With TRVs, if you leave the rooms set to the same temperature - the cost will be exactly the same.
You need to drastically reduce the temperature in many rooms to see a big saving.

Consumerist

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

Since I had cavity wall and loft insulation I have had trouble with mould in all rooms........... and before you ask we have a brand new boiler and airvents fitted.

Mould suggest damp so lack of ventilation would seem to be the problem. Try leaving some windows on the night latch.